The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is poised to return to power in Assam with an absolute majority as the counting for the assembly polls remains underway. In 2016 and 2021, the party had to rely on the support of regional allies to form the government.
Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma remains a key figure in the upturn of fortunes for the BJP in the state. Sarma led the party from the front, touring the state extensively in the run-up to the polls.
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Sarma was also a crucial factor in past elections where he ensured victory for the Congress till 2015. Sarma was a member of the Congress party for almost 15 years.
This was the first election in which Sarma was heading the government. The combination of his government’s developmental policies and beneficiary schemes resonated with the people of Assam, eventually bearing electoral fruits.
“Sarma used fear and development as a two-pronged strategy to win support across Assam. The roads, flyovers, bridges, investments and beneficiary schemes are one aspect while the other was playing on the threat-perception among Assamese from outsiders. He projected that only BJP can give development and protection from cultural aggression,” said Kaustubh Deka, professor of political science in Dibrugarh University.
{{/usCountry}}“Sarma used fear and development as a two-pronged strategy to win support across Assam. The roads, flyovers, bridges, investments and beneficiary schemes are one aspect while the other was playing on the threat-perception among Assamese from outsiders. He projected that only BJP can give development and protection from cultural aggression,” said Kaustubh Deka, professor of political science in Dibrugarh University.
{{/usCountry}}“Despite the controversies surrounding him, Himanta is seen as a hero and someone who can deliver. With this one-sided verdict the aura of invincibility around Himanta will further strengthen and his brand of politics will be completely validated. His stature within the party and in the region will get further enlarged,” he added.
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Sarma also paved the way for the decimation of Congress in the state as he was key in convincing turncoats MP Pradyut Bordoloi and former Congress state chief, Bhupen Kumar Borah to switch sides from Congress to BJP.
“The assumption that Sarma is the only leader who can deliver on promises has been manufactured in a big way. The very substance and meaning of democracy has been reduced to personal politics. What you see in Assam with Sarma is a miniature version of Modi at the Centre,” said Akhil Ranjan Dutta, professor of political science in Gauhati University.
According to the Election Commission of India (ECI) website (1:45pm), Sarma was leading with 61,203 votes in his home constituency of Jalukbari with a margin of 41,798 votes over Congress candidate Bidisha Neog (19,405 votes).